All that is Solid … is a radical blog that seeks to promote a future beyond capital's social universe. "All that is solid melts into air" (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 'The Communist Manifesto', 1848).

Open Call for ContributionsIntellect Books will launch its Mediated Cities book series April 01-03, 2016 with three books.

Digital Futures and the City of Today: New Technologies and Physical Spaces. ISBN: 978-1-78320-560-8Filming the City: Urban Documents, Design Practices & Social Criticism Through the Lens. ISBN: 978-1-78320-554-7Imaging the City: Art, Creative Practices and Media Speculations. ISBN: 978-1-78320-557-8

This is a call for chapter contributions for the following book in the series from the perspective of all disciplines that engage with issues of the city, its design, mediation, representation and experience.

This conference is organised by the journal Architecture_MPS, Intellect Books, the University of the West of England and the Centre for Moving Image Research. The publication series is a joint AMPS / Intellect Books initiative. See: http://architecturemps.com/publications-2/

Please see below the replies to the main questions posed and more information:

Yes, you can participate and attend the conference without presenting an abstract or paper. However, you should send the registration form to ask for an attendance permission

An Abstract accepted is mandatory for an oral or poster presentation

The paper is optional. If you submit a paper it will be considered for the Conference Proceedings and the post-conference publications in Books and the QQML Journal (www.qqml.net ). Two new issues have been added. The e-journal is included in EBSCOhost and DOAJ.

The abstract submission deadline was extended to March 10, 2014 in order to include submissions of abstracts to the special sessions proposed and to the regular sessions as well.

Submissions of abstracts to special or contributed sessions could be sent directly to the conference secretariat at secretar@isast.org . Please refer to the Session Number (see below) to help the secretariat to classify the submissions.

Session organizers should notify the conference secretariat by March 10 and include the abstracts collected for their special sessions.

If you already have submitted your Abstract and you have not received a reply please notify the conference secretariat.

Archive

Conference Excursions

A half day (14:30-19:30) conference excursion in the afternoon of the second day of the conference (28 May 2014) is scheduled: Visit of the classical Istanbul including some of Istanbul’s major sights…

A full day Excursion in the day following the last day of the conference (31 May 2014)…

4. Changes in Learning, Research and Information needs and Behaviour of Users1. 21st century librarians for 21st century libraries 2. New services for the research and learning communities 3. Redefining the library service experience 4. Forging collaboration between librarians and students 5. Library in the digital workflow of research 6. Content analysis of academic libraries’ Facebook profiles 7. Marketing the academic library through online social network advertising 8. International cooperation towards the development of technology in academic libraries

8. Development and Assessment of Digital Repositories 1. Preservation of records for the next generations 2. Demonstration on fiscal responsibility and sustainability 3. Development of new metrics of their usages 4. Evaluation and best practices

9. Development of Information and Knowledge Services on the Public Library 1. Public libraries transformations 2. Dynamic information market 3. Public library’s role in the society 4. Challenges before libraries today 5. Diversified societies 6. Public library’s policy 7. Communities and information market 8. Public libraries as creative industries 9. Production and consumption of knowledge

15. Health Information Services1. Research by health information professionals 2. Role of librarians in implementing Evidence based medicine/practice 3. Prospects and challenges of implementing Research4Life in low income countries

16. Historical and Comparative case studies related to Librarianship1. Library historiography 2. Agencies, people, and movements within the development of librarianship 3. Comparative case studies related to libraries, special collections, or library programs/services

FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL DIFFERENCE AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY NETWORK CONFERENCE

4th International Conference

Cultural Difference and Social Solidarity Network

Differences, Solidarities and Digital Technologies

Hosted by

Middle East Technical University

Northern Cyprus Campus

Tuesday, 1 July through Friday, 4 July, 2014

The 4th International Conference of the Cultural Difference and Social Solidarity Network aims to examine the influence of the spread and growth of digital technology on constructions, concepts, and perceptions of difference and solidarity. By “digital technology” we mean any combination of electronic devices and digital communication including the devices themselves (from smart phones to servers), software and applications, and communication networks. Approximately two thirds of the world’s population (according to the World Bank) has limited access to digital technologies, yet the remaining one third of the population who use these technologies are arguably reshaping concepts of difference and solidarity that have broad implications for all people, their social and cultural institutions, the environment, economic systems, etc. As an example of an area of contested solidarity and difference within that one third of global users, are the broad claims from academia, the market, and digital technology proponents regarding the use of digital technology and devices to promote solidarities, virtual and real, and create an easing of difference through democratizing constructs such as increased access to the internet and communication devices. Contrary arguments assert that solidarities in a virtual world are not possible; that the democratizing effect of the internet, or even wireless service, is an illusion constructed by large corporations that control many of the on-ramps and consumer interfaces of the web in neoliberal societies; and that the growth of use of digital technologies creates new differences and increasingly solidifies existing ones.

This conference seeks to provide a space for scholars to take stock of the present global context and share knowledge – specific or general, empirical or theoretical, with a view to develop and explore the possible ways of understanding the impact of digital technologies on differences and solidarities. The conference is intended to be interdisciplinary and welcomes papers from scholars whose research crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries. Papers and panels are sought for presentation at parallel sessions where each paper will have a strict maximum of 20 minutes presentation time on panels of 2 papers with 25 minutes per paper discussion time.

Initial starting points for paper topics on the 2014 conference theme are listed below. We will also consider papers on themes from previous conferences and/or previous participants who have on-going research on broader areas of difference and solidarity. All papers/presentations should in some way connect to, or address, Cultural Difference and Social Solidarity:

Social media:

Identity

Economy

Politics

Law

War

Governments

Revolutions

Displacement

Sex

Bullying

Religion

Technology and hegemonies

Academia and technology:

New disciplines e.g. Digital humanities

Academic freedom

Discrimination

Discourse

Exploitation

Inclusive/exclusive methodologies

Electronic production:

Mining, manufacture, distribution, retail

E-waste

Passive and active digital media

Ethics and digital technology

Art and Culture

Digital geography

Digital nativism

New media subjectivity

Gaming

Digital literacy

Epistemology

Experience

These themes are not exhaustive and the organizers will consider other papers relevant to the conference subject of Digital Technologies and Cultural Difference and Social Solidarity. We expect to publish a post-conference edited book, derived from the papers presented and organized around themes that reveal themselves during the conference.

There will be two keynote plenary sessions with speakers to be announced. Reflecting the conference theme in the context of the conference venue, one of these sessions will focus on aspects of these themes in Cyprus.

Abstracts may be submitted anytime until March 31, 2014

Notification of abstract acceptances and rejections is on a rolling basis (within 3 weeks of submission)

Online conference registration open from March 17, 2014 to May 30, 2014

Conference Fees to be paid by May 30, 2014

The conference language is English and all papers and presentations should be in English.

The conference fee is 395 Euros (295 Euros for post-grad students and non-participants).

This fee includes:

Registration:

Transfers to and from ErcanAirport in the TurkishRepublic of Northern Cyprus to METU-NCC Campus